This week I’d like to take a break from New Zealand events and talk about a fun activity that I enjoy doing while on vacation, rock hounding. New Zealand has a great collection of precious and semi-precious gemstones that you can hunt for while you are visiting the country. However, before you start filling your pockets with rocks, you need to know what you can take and what to look for.
The first thing you need to know is that you are allowed to hunt for rocks and gemstones while in New Zealand. However, if you are searching for Jade, also referred to as Greenstone, you will not be able to take it from the Arahura River. This is the source of the countries Jade, but only the Maori are allowed to take it from this area. You can, however, look for Jade in other rivers and on the beaches. Finally, if you are interested in adding jade hunting to your list of New Zealand outdoor activities, you also need to know that you can’t take pieces of jade that are bigger than eight kilograms.
Now that the rules are out of the way you next need to know what to look for and where to look for it. The South Island, New Zealand is where the majority of precious and semi-precious stones will be found. On the West Coast of the South Island you will find granite, red garnets, green garnets, Goodletite and tourmaline. On the East Coast you will find agates, a variety of quartz crystals and Jasper. Finally, in the south near the Otago area, you will find pink manganese.
Unlike some locations where you have to spend a day digging in the dirt to find great treasure, in New Zealand you can just go beach combing. Beaches like the Orepuki Beach and Birdlings Flat both offer great gemstone hunting. Do you know of a great rock hounding site New Zealand vacation goers will enjoy? If you do, post it below.
sounds like a rock hound’s dream! I wish I could go too! I didn’t realize New Zealand was a rock-diggers paradise. thanks for the post